The Trouble with Villains and Heroes
by The Pirate-Princess Pact
Summary: A Static Shock, Teen Titans, Batman Beyond, and (slight) Justice League crossover with a small dash of the old Batman series for just a little bit of extra flavor. Robin receives a mission from Batman, who is too busy with Justice League business to deal
1. Prologue: The Trouble Begins

**_The Trouble with Villains and Heroes  
_** Written by Her Royal Highness Princess Kiela S., and the infamous Pirate Crisis Haylo.

Note from Kiela: Please, _please_, **_please_** pay attention to all of this 'junk' in front of the actual story, because this is the only time I'm going to type it. That is, unless something big changes. In that case, I'll let you all know right away what, exactly, is going to be different. Also, please report any and all errors you might spot, because this was only edited by Word's built-in spell check and the two of us.

Note from Crisis: Hello, lovely (and hideously curious) readers! I hope you'll enjoy reading this, and if you have any question, comments, concerns. . . . just type it down onto the review box of joy, or e-mail us, please, but don't flame us. It's a waste of your time, and ours. Kthanxbye! Bah, and for the most part, some of the pairings in this story is obvious. . . . so don't pester us about who we should pair up with who, you biznatches!

**Disclaimer**:  
All "Static Shock" characters and ideas are copyright to Milestone Media and Warner Brothers Animation. We are **_not_** members of Milestone Media or Warner Brothers Animation, and, therefore, neither of us own any of the characters or ideas pertaining to "Static Shock," much to our disappointment. We do, however, own the story line of, and the ideas in, this fanfiction. I would thank you not to steal anything from it, because that would mean Crisis would be obligated to steal back our property, and that would just waste our precious time. Time that could be spent reading and playing video gam- writing. Time that could be spent writing new chapters.

**Summary:  
**A Static Shock, Teen Titans, Batman Beyond, and (slight) Justice League crossover with a small dash of the old Batman series for just a little bit of extra flavor. Robin receives a mission from Batman, who is too busy with Justice League business to deal with it himself. Being the private man that he is, the bat instructed his one time pupil to keep his task a secret from the other Titans. Instead, he must call on two other teenage superheroes: Static and Gear, of Dakota city.

**Pairings:  
**Beast Boy X Raven, Robin/Dick Grayson X Starfire, and last, but definitely not least, Static/Virgil Hawkins X Gear/Richie Foley.

**Warnings:  
**Please keep in mind this fanfiction has mentions of **_shonen-ai_** in it, and, later on, actual situations with the stuff, so if you don't enjoy reading about romantic feelings between two males, don't read this story. It's as simple as that, people. If you will take **_any_** offense at the contents of this fanfic, Crisis and I ask that you please leave now. The exit is that little arrow pointing to the left up in the upper left hand corner of the screen. It's called the 'back' button, and it does wonders to make web pages disappear.

Double lines indicate the beginning or end of the chapter.

A single line indicates a scene change, a time lapse, or both during the chapter.

Speech inside "these things" indicates spoken words.

Speech inside 'these things,' when not used inside "these things," is the equivalent of a quotation mark, used when giving a questionable name to a person, place, or object and when reciting a name or title. It's hard to explain, so an example of this would be: And so the team set off to find 'the snake.'

Speech that is _italicized_ indicates the thoughts of one or more characters.

Speech that looks like **_this_** indicates spoken words, produced at a high volume. **_This_** is an example of yelling. A shout, if you will, but **_this_** will only be used if, say, a character is in a life or death situation, and his or her team mates, for some reason or another, just stand there, screaming at him or her, instead of helping. Not that it'll happen, mind you; it was just an example. Really, it was.

We hope that you enjoy this fanfiction. Please leave a review for us when you're done reading, because feedback has a chance of guilt-tripping us into actually sitting down and working on this things instead of paying attention to our lives.

* * *

_T__he Trouble with Villains and Heroes_:  
Prologue, "The Trouble Begins"

* * *

Several blinding lights flared to life, slicing through the deepest shadows of the night the way a shark slides gracefully through the waters of the ocean. And those lights posed just as much danger to the shadowy figure, which was plastered to the expansive concrete wall that stretched along the edges of the modest island, as a shark would pose to a wounded dolphin.

The man, for it was obviously a man, waited. Having tested the search pattern before, he knew exactly where the lights would move, and when. Soon his chance came, and he scaled the wall through some mysterious means, vanishing into the inky darkness that engulfed the fortress. It was a prison that had held him captive for far, far longer than any of the others had managed to do, and he was glad to finally be free from it.

On a space station, one that tirelessly circled the planet Earth, a computer picked up a signal containing a message– a message describing an event that was enough of a crisis to be classified as an emergency. There was no one there to read the information, however, and so that computer sent off another signal, which was bounced to another location, somewhere much deeper in the unimaginable expanse of space. A smaller computer, though one of almost equal quality to the one that had originally picked up the message, beeped.

A single gloved hand reaching into the folds of a dark cape, and withdrew the source of the sound. After a moment, a pair of eyes narrowed in thought, and then their owner reached for the controls of his ship. Yet another signal was broadcasted, and it cheerfully sped its way back towards the planet it's grandsire had been sent from.

* * *

Ending Note from Kiela: And so our story reaches a grand total of four paragraphs. Not much of a Prologue, but it tis a start. Chapter 1 will be up as soon as we get it typed, so do **_not_** waste your breath asking when it will be out, or begging for us to hurry. You'll need it for when we've typed up all that we've already written, and have to hash out the ideas as we go. Oh, and expect a surprise for the Chapter following 1. We think most of you will enjoy it.

Ending Note from Crisis: Not applicable, because Crisis is busy playing SO3- er. . . . pillaging villages!


	2. Chapter 1: The Mission

**_The Trouble with Villains and Heroes  
_** Written by Her Royal Highness Princess Kiela S., and the infamous Pirate Crisis Haylo.

Note from Kiela: If you're looking for a disclaimer, go to the drop down menu in the upper right hand corner, then select the option "Prologue: The Trouble Begins" You should find it there, as well as a little note saying that I'm only writing it once.

Note from Crisis: Not applicable, because Crisis is sleeping off the after affects of the all-nighter she pulled playing SO3- I meant, sorting the haul from the looting.

* * *

_The Trouble with Villains and Heroes_:  
Chapter 1, "The Mission"

* * *

It was a typical day for the Titans, although there had been no fighting in a long while– several months, in fact. All five of the superheroes were taking advantage of the lull: Cyborg and Beast Boy were sitting on the crescent shaped sofa, playing some sort of cheap, generic fighting game, and Robin was sitting between them, watching them play– something that was undoubtedly dangerous, though that didn't seem to be an issue, for the moment. Raven was sitting on a separate couch, behind and slightly off to the side of the main seating area, reading a thick book. Starfire was practicing a traditional Tamaranian festival dance. Or, at least, she was trying to; she couldn't remember some of the more complex moves, and was trying to remember them by talking out loud to herself.

Suddenly, there was series of dark, deep notes played at what seemed to be sonic volume, because of the mostly quiet goings ons, and both Beast Boy and Cyborg pressed the wrong buttons their Gamestation 2 controllers– from surprise, no doubt– just as their game characters reached each other for the finishing move. Both fighters' blows hit at the same time, and both brightly colored bodies slumped to the floor, knocked out. At the same moment, the drink sitting next to Raven was enveloped in a bubble of dark energy, and it exploded, spraying herbal tea all over the carpet.

"I need to take this call," Robin announced nervously, to break the awkward silence that had fallen once the others realized where the music had come from. He stood, practically jumping from the sofa, and dashed for the safety of the hallways.

The fighting game made a 'bwu bwu bwum' noise, and both Cyborg and Beast Boy turned to look at the screen. They realized, at the same time, that they had lost to each other. The two of them screamed, "**_Nooooo!_**" while tossing their controllers into the air. Cyborg gripped at the sides of his head, starting in horror at the 'Loser' label that adorned both sides of the screen, while Beast Boy ran in small, panicked circles, waving his arms frantically. Several sentence fragments, blurted by both devastated gamers, followed Robin through the open door:

". . . . High score! . . . ."

". . . . Ultra Omega Deluxe–!"

"-Super Bonus Points–!"

And the final, tortured scream of, "**_Gone! Forever!_**" made the caped boy, whose private computer cell phone fusion had caused this, pause in his conversation, and send a guilty look over his shoulder. The machine in his had squawked at him worriedly, and Robin was quick to assure the person on the other end that everything was as normal as it could be, considering where he lived, and whom he lived with. After a few seconds of listening, he interjected a word of confirmation, and the cycle repeated. If anyone had been listening, they would have heard the following dialogue:

"Uh-huh."

"Yeah, I know where it is."

"Any contacts?"

"Uh-huh."

"Got it. I'm on my way."

And then, with a flare of the cape that Blackfire had so admired, Robin swept back into the Tower's main room to announce his immediate departure with, "I'm going out on an important solo mission, and I might be gone for a while." The other four Titans stared at him blankly for a moment, and then reacted to the news in their own ways.

"**_Whaaat!_**" shouted Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Starfire, in unison, while Raven simply pinned Robin with a demanding glare. Starfire floated over him, her hands folded in front of her in the gesture that meant she was worried.

"Is there not any way we could assist you?" she asked, looking down at him pleadingly. Robin frowned, not wanting to upset her, but knowing it was necessary.

"I'm sorry, Starfire. I have to go by myself," he said, reaching up to place his hands on her shoulders comfortingly. "But I want you to take care of things here, while I'm away." Starfire landed on the floor slowly, looking down at her feet.

"I understand, Robin, but _please_ be careful." Robin nodded, and then turned to Cyborg and said, "You're in charge while I'm gone." Then, looking at Raven, "Try to keep everyone in one piece for me." Finally, pointing at Beast Boy, Robin stood for a moment, thinking. After a few seconds, he turned away.

". . . . I have to get going. I'll have my communicator on in case of an emergency, but I think you should have everything covered. I'll check in every two or three days to keep you updated on when I'll be back, and to get the news of what's happening here." He raised his left hand in a lazy wave as he moved towards the front door of the Tower. "Later," he called over his shoulder, and then he was gone.

"Dude, guys. . . ." Beast Boy said, looking at the others. "I think Robin might need some back up."

"BB's right. We should go after him," Cyborg spoke up, his voice sounding a lot more authoritative than it usually did.

"Yes, I agree. We must follow Robin. I fear that something horrible might happen if we are not there for our friend," Starfire announced. Raven rose from her seat.

"What about taking care of things here?" she asked calmly.

"Oh, come on, Rae! Nothing's happened to this place in months! It wouldn't hurt for us to be away for a little while. Right?" Beast Boy said, as he glanced around to look at the other's expressions. Raven seemed to be considering it, and, while her face was its usual careful blank, you could tell her mind was racing.

"Hmmm. . . . From what Robin described, it sounds like it could be dangerous. He might be put into situations that he might not be able to get out of alone. It could be wise to go after him," she said, finally, and Beast boy jumped happily, starting to ramble on about how surprised Robin would be to see them, and Raven's eyebrow twitched a bit from annoyance as she ground out, "We'll follow. . . . at a distance. If it looks like he can handle whatever his mission is on his own, we're going to come back here, and pretend we never left. Agreed?"

"Yes, that sounds wonderful!" Starfire exclaimed, smiling.

"Alright! Let's go!" Beast Boy cheered. Cyborg scratched at the back of his head, sweat dropping.

"Uh. . . . Yeah. Let's go, then!" the cybernetic teen said, thinking to himself, _I thought I was the one who was in charge of things around here!_

* * *

Robin was speeding along on the R-Cycle, and was almost to Dakota city, when the police radio wave scanner picked up an emergency call to all available units within the city limits. The message was distorted slightly by the distance, but the Boy Wonder was able to make out the words 'Bang Baby' and 'heist in progress.' Turning the R-Cycle sharply to the left, Robin sped down a side road, taking a short cut to the location that the map on the motorcycle's video screen was displaying. As he turned out of the alley, he had to maneuver out of the path of a flaming car that was flipping and rolling its way down the street.

A young man who looked to be about seventeen years old stood in the middle of the intersection, laughing darkly, and, as Robin brought the R-Cycle to a stop, the older teen raised his arms to point his open hands at the approaching wave of police cruisers. He was dressed in a skin-tight, dark red short-sleeved shirt, with beige cargo pants that hung low enough on his hips that the top few inches of his boxers were showing. His red hair was spiked up and streaked with several thick lines of blond; his eyes were a dark angry green. These eyes began to smoke as the squad cars drew closer, and, once they were in range, the boy's hands ignited. With a yell, he launched several flaming orbs at the rapidly approaching vehicles.

All of the cruisers were suddenly enveloped by a white-purple light, and they jumped from the ground to hover a good distance above the street, which was understandably deserted. Robin traced the jagged line of crackling energy to its end, and found a sixteen-year-old boy, who was hovering above the ground by standing on top of a flat metal disk, which was charged with the same power that was holding up the cars. A white mask that went from mid-forehead to his cheekbones, and which had triangular eyeholes, covered his face; oval yellow goggles were placed above that, reaching up to his hairline. He wore his black hair, which was getting on the long side, in dreadlocks, and the style somehow seemed to fit him perfectly.

He was wearing a hooded, dark blue trenchcoat with black sleeves, the inside of which was a golden yellow. Underneath the African American teen was wearing a black muscle shirt that was emblazoned with a gold ring crossed by a lightning bolt of the same color. The boy's pants– black with dark blue stripes along the sides, and twin gold segmented patches on the outside calf area– were fastened with a gold belt. Finally, the outfit was finished off with a pair of dark blue boots, both of which also sported golden stripes, and a pair of gloves that were the same color of blue as the rest of his outfit; there was a triangular shaped gold edge at the wrist area of these hand coverings, in the center of which there was a small circle.

The electric powered teen had one gloved hand on his hip, while the other hand held the rope of energy that was connected to the police cruisers. "Yo, Hotstreak!" he shouted, with a smirk, as he swooped in closer to the red haired teen. "I think it's about time you cooled down!" Hotstreak glared at the superhero.

"You again! Stay out of this, Static!" With that having been said, the flame powered Bang Baby ignited a ball of fire in his palm, and prepared to throw it. Before he had the chance a metal object that was slightly reminiscent of a grenade flew out from the opposite direction, and struck him in the center of his back. When it hit, several thick, segmented metal chords shot out and wrapped around Hotstreak's body from ankles to shoulders, causing him to loose his balance and fall forward.

"You just robbed a bank. Logically, it would be impossible for us good guys to stay out of it," said a newcomer to the scene, and Robin, from his spot crouched next to his motorcycle, behind one of the damaged squad cars, blinked in surprise. The boy, whose ability of flight was attributed to rockets, looked about the same age as his crime-fighting partner, and was wearing an outfit that basically consisted of green and white. The white helmet had two black lines running along the topside edges of the topmost piece, and two black circles on the second portion, which were both placed in the center of the areas directly above his ears. The helmet itself covered the top half of the teen's blond head, but the second white segment of the helmet tapered down to his chin, framing the green visor that covered his face.

This visor was made up of two parts: the light green piece that covered the lower half of his face, and which– presumably– was simply plastic, and the darker green portion that covered the top half, curving around the end of his nose in a way that suggested the boy needed to be able to see through it at all times. His main outfit was, in fact, two separate articles of clothing, but the way that the white stripes along his sides matched up gave it the appearance of being a single unit. The collar of the top piece was made up of a thick white ring, one that fit snugly around the teen's neck, and puffed out slightly, the same way the green ring just below it did. The shirt was sleeveless, and there were twin white rings on the edge of the outfit, where his arms met his upper torso.

Except for the collar, the two 'sleeves,' and the segmented white stripes, which started just under them, along the sides, the rest of the top was green, save for the silver zipper that went right up the middle of the front. As for the bottom half of the outfit, most of it was white; the stripes continued down from the top, and then slanted in at the boy's knees, becoming solid white from then on, all the way to his ankles. The two pieces were secured– or divided, depending on how you looked at it– by a segmented metal belt, which sported a large square in the front, and a mounted circle just to the square's left. Both shapes appeared to be buttons of some sort.

The teen's outfit also included a pair of green ankle high skates that had black toes and matching black half circles on both sides. There were metallic looking, segmented stripes that started under the bottom buckles and went up to the black toe area, which had silver rectangles in their center bottom edge. The twin black half circles on the sides of the skates was where the rockets he used to fly were mounted, and, judging from the way he was moving to keep his altitude, these rockets were able to rotate in any direction needed. The last few accessories were a pair of simple black gloves, a set of elbow and knee pads of the same color, and a strange looking machine that was mounted on the boy's back the way that one would wear a backpack if they were trying to avoid having back problems later in life.

A hateful growl came from the fallen criminal, drawing Robin's attention back to him, and all three of the superheroes had to duck as his entire body was enveloped in flames hot enough to melt the street in the area surrounding him, and spray molten metal up to ten feet from where he was laying. When the fire shrank back to a less dangerous level, and the smoke cleared up enough, it was apparent that the blond tech user's capturing devices wouldn't work on Hotstreak.

"Aw, man. Now I'm going to have to make a new one of those."

"Next time, bro, make it fireproof."

Robin's hand went to his utility belt, as he launched himself out from behind his flimsy cover, and, as he rolled to a stop in a half crouch, a small red ball bounced to a spot between Hotstreak's feet– the older teen had stood back up, oozing liquid metal, to toss another barrage of fire balls at his two visible opponents– where it exploded, covering the easily angered boy with a thick white foam. The metahuman thief collapsed to his knees, groaning weakly, as the coolant took effect, neutralizing his powers with a triumphant hiss and billows of steam.

"Dude, Robin!" exclaimed Static, as he floated closer to the ground, and the other crime fighter. "Not that I'm not stoked to see you, but. . . . What're you doing here?" The helmeted boy drifted down too, the rockets on his skates set to low, looking at Robin in open curiosity.

"You're a long way from your crib, and the bad guys you get there are more frequent than ours. Bigger and badder, too, now that most of the Bang Babies have been administered and antidote," the blond said thoughtfully, and Robin's lips quirked into a small smile, which he directed at the two other superheroes so that it would serve as a wordless greeting.

"I'm sure things back at the Titan's Tower can be taken care of by the other Titans. Anyway, I'm here because I'm on an urgent mission for Batman. . . ." Pausing, Robin took a good look at the teen that had spoken to him last. "You're Gear, aren't you? Static's sidekick?" Hearing this, Static winced slightly, and Gear crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes at the caped boy.

"Partner. I'm his partner," the genius said firmly, his tone more than a little angry.

"Oh, uh, sorry about that," Robin responded quickly, obviously surprised at the way he'd been corrected. Gear muttered something, under his breath, about 'that stupid TV show,' and Static wisely chose that moment to change the subject.

"So. . . . What's this urgent mission about, Robin?" he asked, hoping to take Gear's mind off of the 'sidekick' comment.

"I'll tell you guys someplace a little less public. There's no telling when some civilians might show up to look at the aftermath of a battle." Dakota's own heroes nodded, and went about the business of restraining Hotstreak until, a few minutes after Gear had used Backpack to send out the necessary call, the Metahuman Containment Squad showed up to take him away. Again.

When the MCS had left with the fire powered Bang Baby safely stowed in the back of their transportation truck, Gear and Static glanced at each other and grinned. "So, shall we take him to our–?" Static started, and Gear cut in, finishing his sentence.

"– one and only, super secret headquarters?" The duo was still grinning at each other, and Robin looked back and forth between them, eyebrows twisting in confusion.

* * *

Robin, the Boy Wonder, was dumbfounded. He stared at the broken down building in front of him, shocked; from the way that Static and Gear had called it their 'super secret headquarters' he had assumed it was going to be some sort of high tech looking place, stuffed full of cool gismos and do-dahs. Instead he was standing outside of a gasoline refueling station. An old abandoned one, at that.

"Welcome, to the Abandoned Gas Station ooof Solitude!" Gear announced, in his best talk show host voice.

"Uh. . . ." said Robin, "It's kinda nice. I guess."

"'Kinda nice?' Well, just wait until you have one of our burritos. . . ."

"That's great and all, Gear, but I still need to talk to you two about the mission."

"After you, good sir," said Static, in a surprisingly authentic sounding English accent, as he zapped open the door with a small burst of electricity, and gave an overly dramatic bow. Gear skated forward, pushing Robin through the door, which swung shut behind Static as he came in after them.

"Want me to take this for you?" Gear asked Robin, as he tugged gently on the edge of the other crime fighter's cape. As he was doing this, Backpack's legs snapped out of their locked position around his shoulders and sides, and it jumped from the blond's back to a nearby table, where it promptly went into 'standby' mode.

"Uh. . . . No thanks," replied Robin, looking impatient. "Now, about the mission–"

"Hey, Robin! You want a soda?" Static asked, from across the room, where he was standing next to what appeared to be a metal box, though there was a brand name or logo of some kind printed across the front.

". . . . Sure. Anyway, the mission is–" started Robin, for the second time, but Static was already turning back to the machine and commanding the dispenser to produce three drinks. The caped teen's right eye twitched, and he clenched his fists tight enough that you could hear the material of his gloves creak. Unfortunately for Gear, he chose this moment to offer the other boy some food.

"How 'bout a burrito? It's a house special. Everybody who's eaten one said that it was the best that they've–"

"**_No!_**"

Silence. Silence is awkward. Silence is especially awkward after an outburst of such volume. Silence is, actually, awkward any time people stare at each other without saying anything. Silence is–

"So. . . . What were you saying about a mission?" asked Static, as he brought the three sodas over to the table in the middle of the room. Robin took a deep breath, and let it out slowly; Gear cautiously finished removing his helmet, which he had started to pull off as he offered the 'house special' to the other boy.

"Well, the mission is for me to– . . . ." Robin paused in his explanation, looking suspiciously between Gear and Static, half expecting them to interrupt him again. The two Bang Babies just stared back at him innocently.

"Come on, Robin. Just tell us already," Static urged him, as he pulled up a seat next to Gear, and slid his mask upward, taking it off. Robin looked around once more, at the surprisingly organized and technological room, before sitting as well.

"The mission. . . . is complicated. . . ." he said finally, with a sigh.

"How 'complicated' are we talking here? If this is going to take a long time, I'd like the short version first. I have to finish my latest experiment; it's a little unstable," said Gear, and the other two turned to look at the thing he had indicated with a half-wave and a casual flick of his fingers. A puff of steam rose out of the top of one of the vials secured in the middle of the machine, and it was accompanied by a strange series of noises that sounded suspiciously like music from a horror film. It took the blond a second or two to realize that the sounds were actually coming from Backpack, but when he stood up and went over to investigate, the 'music' mysteriously shut off.

"What was that, bro?" Static asked, and Gear, frowning, mentally directed Backpack to open the hatch in its back and put up its sensor logs on its display screen.

"I don't know. He's never done this before." Robin quirked an eyebrow, causing his mask to stretch comically, as, after a few seconds of reading the data, Gear literally pulled the top off of the half-oval shaped robot, and ran a scanner– which had suddenly appeared in the teen's hand– across the circuits inside it, muttering something that sounded like 'He might have caught a virus again.' After another several moments, Gear adjusted his glasses, which had replaced his helmet, and put the top back on the machine.

"Curiouser and curiouser," he said finally, as he returned to the table. "Backpack picked up two separate bursts of high level energy, out of the ranges that metahumans give off. But with the current amount of information, I won't be able to figure out what they were or where they came from."

"Think we should check it out?" asked Static, and Gear had only just opened his mouth to reply when Backpack gave off another unusual alarm, though this one sounded more like generic game music. The three crime fighters looked at each other with confused expressions adorning their faces, and Gear once again checked his robot's sensor logs.

"This time Backpack's scanners picked up an unidentifiable animal." After a moment, he added, "Its also registering a protein instability on a genetic level, but it doesn't look like anything a Bang Baby would give off." Robin's eye twitched angrily as those bits of information connected in his mind to form the full picture.

"They followed me!" he exclaimed, and Static and Gear glanced at him in surprise.

"Huh?" they chorused, but Robin was too busy yanking on his short, spiky black hair, in order to alleviate his anger and frustration, to answer their question. Sharing a concerned look, the two superheroes of Dakota wondered just what the younger teen had realized, to make him act so strangely. Two thick metal stalks suddenly extended from the open hatch in Backpack's curved side, and the red bulbs on their ends flashed frantically as the machine sounded an alarm.

Both of the metahumans dove for their respective face coverings; that had been the proximity alarm, which Gear explained to a now rather perplexed looking Robin, once his helmet was safely back in place. The Boy Wonder went to the window, and peered discreetly out into the street through the layer of dust that was coating it. A fuzzy green blur went past, and he nodded sharply to himself in irate confirmation.

Turning suddenly, the caped boy dashed over to, and then kicked open the front door of the building, startling the four other teens outside. Beast Boy, Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire all gasped in surprise, looked at each other guiltily, and then turned their eyes on the ground so that they didn't have to see their leader's expression. Robin regarded them calmly as he said, "I have just one question for you." No one asked what it was, but then, they didn't really need to because almost immediately afterwards the Boy Wonder yelled, "**_Why are you here?_**" directly into their faces.

Nearly blown over by the force behind the shout, all four of the 'guilty' Titans were leaned back at a frightening angle by the time Static and Gear had come outside to see what all the noise was about; Robin was scolding each of his teammates for different things, making them tilt even farther towards the ground with each word. Both bang Babies watched the goings ons with surprised interest:

"I _specifically_ told you to look after things in Jump City while I was gone! Now who's going to keep the citizens safe if Cinderblock escapes again? And Raven! I expected you to put a stop to anything like this!" Robin lectured his fellow Titans. At this point, Beast Boy couldn't lean any farther, and so he fell, arms windmilling frantically in a futile attempt to keep his balance.

"Dude! It's not her fault!" he told Robin, as he sat up, nursing the bump on the back of his head, where his skull had made contact with the ground.

"Yeah, man. It was a three to one vote!" Cyborg cut in. "She just came along to keep BB out of trouble."

"Hey!" Everyone ignored this protest, which made Beast Boy sulk even more. His frowning pout was complimented by imaginary black steam lines, which the two amused spectators could picture coming out of the top of his head. Meanwhile, Starfire had shaken off her apprehension, and floated over to Robin, her hands clasped together in front of her, and a pleading expression fixed firmly in place.

"Please, Robin," she said. "Do not be angered with us. We were simply worried for your wellbeing. You cannot blame us for this, can you?" Seeing the pleading look on Starfire's face, Robin's anger slowly started to fade. Frowning, he let out a defeated sigh.

"You're right, Starfire. I can't stay mad at you guys." Seeing this change, Gear glanced toward Static, who met his eyes, snickering.

"Is it just me, or does a certain someone like a certain someone else?" Gear whispered, leaning in a little closer to Static to keep anyone from overhearing. Both of them snickered rather immaturely, taking in Robin and Starfire, who were off in their own little world. It looked like it belonged in a shoujo manga somewhere, because one could practically see the bubbles and flowers surrounding them. The remaining Titans looked on, simply relieved that their alien friend had managed to clam their leader down.

* * *

Ending Note from Kiela: Well. That took a while. A lot longer than I had planned, actually, because my perfectionist side kept forcing me to go back and reword things. Ah, well. That's life. In any case, expect a surprise for the next Chapter.

Ending Note from Crisis: Not applicable, because Crisis is off somewhere, probably playing a videogame- . . . . Um, planning another looting?


	3. Chapter 1pt5: Watch Them Get It Wrong!

**_The Trouble With Villains and Heroes  
_** Written by Her Royal Highness Princess Kiela S., and the infamous Pirate Crisis Haylo.

Note from Kiela: Surprise! We'll be doing 'half' Chapters for every Chapter that we can think of things to mess up. Enjoy!

Reviewer responses by Crisis:  
Mightierdandasword: Hee! I like your name thingy! Well, onto more serious matters. First of all this fanfic has the **_cartoon_** Teen Titans and **_NOT_** the comic book Teen Titans. Plus the show has evidence that the Robin in the show is indeed Dick Grayson. First evidence is with the episode where Star is sent to the future. Robin had become Nightwing. Does Tim become Nightwing? Noooo. Second evidence is the episode with Lary. No, seriously. Watch it. Plus, if you go to and look through the Teen Titans guide people point out the Dick/Tim Robin things.  
Dooley: oh my go! here you go!  
totallystellar: I'm not sure if you've even **_bothered_** to read our Notes? We (well, more like I) mentioned **_not_** to bother us about the pairings. Be mature please. If you have a problem with the couplings then simply click the back button. It's a wonderful and handy button.  
ISC: Thanks, good that it draws your curiosity!  
"": Thank you. I want your babies. Just kidding! Hope you enjoy this too! Whoo!  
HyppolytaJones: Thank you so much for your patience, for it is now rewarded.  
I-Shave-Clowns: The great detail is all thanks to Kiela. Go worship her now, or check out her solo account.  
Raven Black-San: Well hope this one isn't too short, yeeh! Thank yous for your review!

* * *

_The Trouble with Villains and Heroes_:  
Chapter 1.5, "Watch Them Get It Wrong! Part 1"

* * *

  
"TTwVaH Act 1, Scene 1, Take 1!" _Snap_

.

"Action!"

It was a typical day for the Titans, although there had been no fighting in a long while– several months, in fact. All five of the superheroes were taking advantage of the lull: Cyborg and Beast Boy were sitting on the crescent shaped sofa, playing some sort of cheap, generic fighting game, and Robin was sitting between them, watching them play– something that was undoubtedly dangerous, though that didn't seem to be an issue, for the moment. Raven was sitting on a separate couch, behind and slightly off to the side of the main seating area, reading a thick book. Starfire was practicing a traditional Tamaranian festival dance. Or, at least, she was trying to; she couldn't remember some of the more complex moves, and was trying to remember them by talking out loud to herself.

Suddenly, there was series of notes played at what seemed to be sonic volume, because of the mostly quiet goings ons, and each of the Titans stopped what they were doing to track down the source of the song, which was the 'I dream of Genie' theme. They found it when Raven guiltily pulled out a pink cell phone, and, coughing embarrassedly, said, "It was a gift," as she fought down a blush. The other four superheroes stared at her, slack jawed with disbelief, as she drifted out of the room to take the call.

"Cut!" shouted the director, and the screen obediently went dark.

* * *

"TTwVaH Act 1, Scene 2, Take 1!" _Snap_.

"Action!"

Robin was speeding along on the R-Cycle, and was almost to Dakota city, when the police radio wave scanner picked up an emergency call to all available units within the city limits. The message was distorted slightly by the distance, but the Boy Wonder was able to make out the words 'Bang Baby' and 'heist in– this kiss, this kiss. You can kiss me in the moonlight, on the rooftop under the stars'

"What the–?" Slamming on the breaks, Robin pulled the R-cycle to an abrupt stop in the middle of the unusually empty freeway. After a moment of examination, during which you could hear random people muttering in confusion, and a microphone dipped into the view, the caped boy determined the cause of problem: "Beast Boy messed with the wiring! I'm gonna kill him!" There was a sigh from off screen.

"Cut!"

* * *

"TTwVaH Act 1, Scene 2, Take 3!" _Snap_

.

"Action!"

All of the cruisers were suddenly enveloped by a white-purple light, and they jumped from the ground to hover a good distance above the street, which was understandably deserted. Robin traced the jagged line of crackling energy to its end, and found a sixteen-year-old boy, who was hovering above the ground by standing on top of a flat metal disk, which was charged with the same power that was holding up the cars. The electric powered teen had one gloved hand on his hip, while the other hand held the rope of energy that was connected to the police cruisers. "Yo, Hotstreak!" Static paused, a thoughtful expression on his face. ". . . . Weren't you fused with Ebon?" Hotstreak lowered his steaming hands, and turned eyes that gave off equal amounts of smoke towards the asphalt.

"Well, after we fell into the lake, we kinda broke up." Gear flew up from where he had been waiting for his cue.

"Dude, you two were an item?" he asked, looking genuinely curious.

"Yeah, but we were trying to keep it on the down low."

"Makes sense," said Static. Gear's expression turned contemplative, a perplexed frown now adorning his face.

". . . . How did that work when you were in the same body?" Hotstreak flushed angrily, and threw an extra large fireball at the two superheroes.

"That ain't none of your business!" he yelled, and let loose a much bigger barrage of flames. While the ensuing battle was going on, a whispered conversation could be heard, presumably between the director and one of the camera crew. It went something like this:

"Crisis, we should cut now. We only have a set amount of film to make this season."

"Who in their right mind would cut _now_? Think about the blackmail, Kiela!"

I know that! But this reel is almost entirely emp–!" The screen went dark, and then began to flicker a fuzzy, black speckled grey-white.

* * *

"TTwVaH Act 1, Scene 2, Take 4!" _Snap_.

"Action!"

Robin's hand went to his utility belt, as he launched himself out from behind his flimsy cover, and, as he rolled to a stop in a half crouch, a small red ball bounced to a spot between Hotstreak's feet– the older teen had stood back up, oozing liquid metal, to toss another barrage of fire balls at his two visible opponents– where it exploded, covering the easily angered boy with a thick white foam. The metahuman thief collapsed to his knees, groaning weakly, as the coolant took effect, neutralizing his powers with a triumphant hiss and billows of steam.

"Dude, Robin!" exclaimed Static, as he floated closer to the ground, and the other crime fighter. He paused as he got a clearer view of the caped boy, and, frowning in confusion, asked, "Did you do something to your hair? You look different that the last time I saw you." Robin shook his head.

"No, I didn't change my hair. The Robin you met before was the third one, Tim Drake."

"Uh. . . . Well, where's he?" questioned Static, as Gear drifted down to be at a more even level with the other two teens.

"And which Robin does that make you?" the helmeted boy asked.

"I'm the first one, Dick Grayson. And as for Tim. . . . He's with the Young Justice."

"The who?" asked Static and Gear, at the same time.

"The Young Justice. They're–" An empty water bottle flew out from the side of the screen, and hit Robin on the back of his head.

"Stop mixing medias! Cut!" came the director's shout, and the view went dark as the film was stopped from rolling any further.

* * *

"TTwVaH Act 1, Scene 3, Take 2!" _Snap_

.

"Action!"

"After you, good sir." said Static, in a surprisingly authentic sounding English accent, as he zapped open the door with a small burst of electricity, and gave an overly dramatic bow. Gear skated forward, pushing Robin through the door, which swung shut behind Static as he came in after them.

"Want me to take this for you?" Gear asked Robin, as he tugged gently on the edge of the other crime fighter's cape. He paused, and then smirked as he gave a slightly stronger pull on the stretchy material. Robin looked at the helmet wearing Bang Baby confusedly, and attempted to keep the scene running smoothly.

"Uh. . . . No thanks. Now, about the mission–" Gear snickered, breaking the Boy Wonder's train of thought. Another tug of his cape later, Robin was feeling a little weirded out. That was about the time that Static picked up on what his partner was doing, and came over to where the other two crime fighters were standing.

"How 'bout your mask?" the dark skinned teen asked, as he reached for it. Robin smacked his hand away.

"_No._" Gear and Static shared an understanding look, and then simultaneously tackled the other boy to the ground.

"I'll get his arms!" said Static.

"Hold him still! I can't get– oof! He kicked me!"

"Let go!" growled Robin, as he struggled to worm his arm free again.

"Not until we see what you look like under– ouch! Dude, I thought you said you'd get his arms!" Lots of snickering, and muffled laughs, could be heard from off screen, along with the occasional giggle.

"Static! Gear! Stop molesting Robin!" This shouted order was followed by the sound of several drinks being choked on or spit out, as the rest of the Titans, also off screen, registered the words. Robin made a strange choking noise, turning red, at about the same time several voices sent up a chorus of, "**_What!_**" that echoed off the walls of the set.

"Cut!" Yelled the director. Just before the film cut out, you could see Gear and Static letting a very traumatized looking Robin up off of the floor– the latter of the two metahumans looking pointedly at the first as he muttered, "Nah. He isn't my type."

* * *

"TTwVaH Act 1, Scene 3, Take 5!" _Snap_.

"Action!"

"Well, the mission is for me to– . . . ." Robin paused in his explanation, looking suspiciously between Gear and Static, half expecting them to interrupt him again. The two Bang Babies just stared back at him innocently.

"Come on, Robin. Just tell us already," Static urged him, as he pulled up a seat next to Gear, and slid his mask upward, taking it off. Robin looked around once more, at the surprisingly organized and technological room, before sitting as well.

"The mission. . . . is complicated. . . ." he said finally, with a sigh.

"How 'complicated' are we talking here? If this is going to take a long time, I'd like the short version first. I have to finish my latest experiment; it's a little unstable," Gear told the caped teen, who frowned a bit.

"I don't think that would work. You have to pay attention to the finer details of the mission specifications, or nothing will make much sense," Robin informed them, and then took a drink of the soda that Static had brought over for him.

"Don't worry," said Gear, "I'm good at multitasking." Static muttered something that the camera couldn't pick up, but, upon hearing it, Robin choked on his drink, turned red, and sprayed the soda across the table. The little droplets would have hit the two metahumans sitting across from him, if it hadn't been for the shield of electricity that Static put up in front of Gear and himself.

"I did **_not_** need to know that!' Robin shouted, and he stomped off of the set with his face flaming. Static and Gear cracked up, collapsing against the table as the other crime fighter disappeared from view.

There was a sigh, and then, "Cut!"

* * *

"TTwVaH Act 1, Scene 3, Take 8!" _Snap_

.

"Action!"

"Dude! It's not her fault!" he told Robin, as he sat up, nursing the bump on the back of his head, where his skull had made contact with the ground.

"Yeah, man. It was a three to one vote!" Cyborg cut in. "She just came along to keep BB out of trouble."

"Yes,' drawled Raven, her gravely voice holding a hint of playful amusement. "Because we all know what a short leash I have him on." Beast Boy flushed, and pulled the collar of his bodysuit up a little further. There was a moment of silence, as the other Titans, Static, and Gear took in what that meant, and then there was an eruption of noise.

"Dude!" exclaimed Cyborg, looking like he had just been hit in the face with a flying steamroller. Robin could only gawk, having been completely blindsided by this news. Starfire, however, was more that a little excited about the whole situation.

"Ah! So friends Beast Boy and Raven are to be married? Please, when is the wedding?" she asked cheerfully, looking for an answer in their red faces. At this point the two Bang Baby superheroes couldn't hold in their laughter a second longer, and they collapsed against each other as their amusement made itself known.

Two groans of frustration were heard from off screen; then came the shout of "Cut!" that preceded the end of the recording.

* * *

_  
_Ending Note from Kiela: Hopefully you all liked that, but even if you didn't, please leave a review. They inspire us to work (or so I say).

Kiela: Hey Crisis, what should I put for your Ending Note?  
Crisis: Blah.  
Kiela: . . . . Right. So should I put "Not applicable because Crisis is too lazy again?"  
Crisis: I did give you an Ending Note! It was "blah!" Now be useful and write it down, chop chop!  
Kiela: Oh, sure, now I'm the writing slave.  
Crisis: You hog the story anyway.  
Kiela: Hmmm. . . . You do have a point there.

Ending Note from Crisis: Blah.


	4. Chapter 2: Disguises and Whatnot

**_The Trouble with Villains and Heroes  
_** Written by Her Royal Highness Princess Kiela S., and the infamous Pirate Crisis Haylo.

Note from Kiela: The Disclaimer can be found in the Prologue. Any questions? No? Right, then. Here we go with the second Chapter.

Note from Crisis: Like Kiela said, the disclaimer is on the Prologue. I hope you smart people have noticed it and read it. Unlike some, er, . . . . anyway I hope you enjoy!

* * *

_The Trouble with Villains and Heroes_:  
Chapter 2, "Disguises and Whatnot"

* * *

It was quiet. Surprisingly so, considering the fact that there were seven teenagers gathered within a relatively small space, all of whom had at least one thing in common: they fought crime. That was actually why they were all there; they had a mission. A mission that was undoubtedly important, but six out of the seven people in the room hadn't the slightest idea what it was, and the seventh didn't seem to be in the mood to share any time soon, judging by the expression on his face.

There were many covert glances at each other out of the corners of their eyes, and the situation became increasingly tense as time wore on. Starfire, ever the peacekeeper, opened her mouth several times to try and break the silence, only to close it again, looking slightly disappointed as she couldn't think of anything to say. After about five minutes or so of awkwardness, Cyborg spoke up.

"Okay," he said, "I just have to ask what that thing is." This was accompanied by a gesture at the machine in question, which was shoved into on of the more difficult to get to areas of the Abandoned Gas Station: Gear's work area. This section of the room basically consisted of the corner farthest from the door, thereby reducing the risk that Static would trip over anything important that happened to be left laying around while the other resident superhero was lost in an inventing frenzy. The helmeted genius sat forward, beginning to describe the complexities of his creation.

"Well, it's a–" The explanation was cut short, as the inventor's mouth was suddenly covered by his partner's dark hand, and then the teen himself was dragged backwards off of the edge of his chair, resulting in him being seated firmly on the floor only seconds later. The Titans blinked at Static, surprised by his actions, and the way he calmly ignored Gear's indignant protests ("Ack! Hey! Not cool, V!").

"So, Robin. . . . You ever gonna tell us what this mission of yours is all about?" The caped crime fighter looked up from where he had been slouched in his chair, brooding, and nodded.

"At first glance it doesn't seem to be difficult at all, but it really is considering the final objective: capture the Joker. He recently escaped from an isolated prison that, as far as the rest of the word is concerned, doesn't exist. This is proof of just how crafty he can be when pressed to do so, and according to the information that Batman gave to me, he's already forming new ties with those in the underworld. It's going to be our job to find out what those connections are, and to sever them before anything else happens. Then we're bringing him down."

Sometime during Robin's explanation, Static had jumped slightly, as if surprised, and his expression had done something rather interesting. When the Boy Wonder had had finished talking, the African American teen pushed his chair back just the tiniest bit, and glanced underneath the table with a small frown. "What are you doing?" he asked Gear, who was now lying on the floor, with his hands curled around the dark skinned teen's ankles. The blond grinned up at him.

"Wishing you had shoelaces, so I could get you back for pushing me off my chair." Static rolled his eyes, but made no move to remove his partner's hands from his legs. The Titans sat there silently, confused at the way the two Dakotans interacted- with the exception of Raven, who was more perceptive than most gave her credit for– until finally something pertaining to the mission was asked:

"And just how are we going to do that?" The question came from Gear, who had just rolled out from under the table, and was now sliding back into his seat. "We don't exactly blend in."

"You're right," replied Robin, grateful to be back on familiar ground, subject wise. "The only way that I can think of is for us to go undercover. Out of costume, so we won't be recognized."

"Hey, man, this will be the second time this year we've had to go undercover," Cyborg said, as he crossed his arms. "If we keep having to disguise ourselves so often, I think that the villains will start to catch on to us."

"I know, Cyborg. That's why not all of us are going out in our disguises at the same time. We'll split into groups, and take shifts searching through the areas that Joker will most likely show up."

They eventually decided on who was going to be in which group, and when to meet the next day, Friday, which was going to be difficult for Static and Gear because it was a school day. As they were assigning areas for the groups to search, Backpack sat up and gave off a bell like alarm. Upon hearing it, Static jumped to his feet, looking more than just a little bit panicked.

"Oh, man! I'm gonna be late for dinner! My pops is gonna kill me!" he blurted, as he dashed towards the back room of the Gas Station. Gear quirked and eyebrow, and skated after him.

"I set the alarm back ten minutes, man, so chill! We've got plenty of time!" the helmeted inventor was saying, as he and his partner vanished through the door leading to their storage area. The Titans barely had time to blink, and exchange confused glances, before Static was walking back into the main room, a backpack slung over one shoulder, buttoning a red and orange-yellow long sleeved shirt as he walked. The electric powered teen still had his mask on, which looked strange when matched with his brightly colored two-piece outfit and brown-yellow hiking boots.

"Sorry to cut the meeting short," he told the five other crime fighters, as he pulled off his face covering, "but my pops still expects me home for dinner, and ever since he found out about all this" – meaning his being a superhero– "he nearly has a heart attack if I'm not back in time."

"Which doesn't make all that much sense, if you think about it," said Gear as he skated back in from the other room. His helmet was presumably in the backpack that he was carrying, as he now had his round-framed glasses on, but the only other thing that he had changed about his appearance was to put on a pair of baggy grey-brown pants. As Static shrugged in response to his statement, the genius metahuman slid his backpack to the side, and reached into it, pulling out a wad of orange and cream colored material. The book bag was then dropped to the floor, as the blond pulled the hooded sweater over his head, effectively hiding the rest of his crime fighting costume.

Static turned back to the titans, and said, "If you don't have anywhere to stay, you can chill here. That thing over there is a 'fridge, and it's pretty well stocked. Just tell it what you want, and if it has any, it'll bring it out for ya." Then he was gone, disappearing out the main door of the building. Gear sighed; his partner had forgotten the most important thing to tell the Titans in his rush to get home.

"Backpack," he called, and the scouting robot unfolded its legs, jumped off of the table it usually occupied while Gear was just 'hanging out' in the Gas Station, and began spidering its way over to the Bang Baby teen that had built it. Even though he didn't even _remotely_ need to say Backpack's commands anymore, it seemed to make people nervous if he didn't speak them aloud, so Gear had long ago trained himself to give verbal orders to his creation when there were others around– this, of course, excluded Static, who didn't care one way or the other.

As the mobile machine crawled its way up his back, and under his sweater, the genius pointed at the five other superheroes in a way that was uncharacteristically commanding. "Do **_not_**," he told them firmly, "touch **_anything_** in that corner of the room." He gestured vaguely at his work area, and said, "If you do, there's an eighty-nine percent chance that you'll blow yourself up. Or, at the very least, something else over there, and that would basically be the end of everything, anyway." Static stuck his head back through the door, looking impatient.

"Rich, you coming or not?"

"Yeah, V."

"Move it, then. We're going to be late!" Gear suppressed an amused smile, knowing that it was just the other boy's way to worry like that. With a general wave to the others, Gear headed towards the door, his skates shifting into what appeared to be a normal pair of tennis shoes mid step, the black coloring fading into white and the silver being replaced with even more green. Then the two metahumans were on their way, and the once the sound of their friendly banter faded, the Titans looked at each other blankly for a moment. Beast Boy was the first to break the silence.

"So. . . . What now?"

* * *

"You're late, Virgil." Upon reaching their destination, the two Bang Babies were greeted by an angry looking nineteen-year-old mocha skinned woman. Her dark hair was tied back into two pigtails, slightly off to the sides of her head, and she was wearing one of the dashiki that she had bought during the family's vacation to Africa. She had her arms crossed, and she was holding the spatula in her right hand as if it were a weapon, rather than a cooking utensil.

Virgil Hawkins, a.k.a. Static, glared at his blond haired friend, and said sullenly, "See, Richie, I told you!"

"But I had my alarm set back ten minutes!" Richie Foley, a.k.a. Gear, replied, in his own defense, and the spatula-wielding girl made an angry 'humph' sound.

"Well, you're thirty minutes late!" she snapped, as she waved her left index finger at the two of them threateningly.

"Now wait just a minute, Sharon! _Thirty_ minutes late? Now, that's just ridiculous!" Virgil argued, as was in his job description when it came to dealing with his older sister.

"Oh, no it isn't, baby bro. Especially when you knew Trina was coming over for dinner tonight!" Virgil blinked.

"Since when?" Sharon made an exasperated noise.

"I told you this morning at breakfast!" Trina walked into the room, smiling at the way the girl was punctuating her words with a few shakes of the spatula in her hand.

"Don't be so hard on them, Sharon. They're boys, after all. They can't help it." Richie muttered something under his breath about irrational logic, and Virgil had to fight back a grin. Just then the doorbell rang, and the four gathered in the kitchen turned to look in the direction of the front door with perplexed frowns.

"We're not expecting anyone else. . . ." said Sharon, and the boys exchanged a wary look; they hadn't told the Titans not to come to either of their houses.

"We'll get it!" they chorused, and were out of the room before either of the women could respond. They, too, shared a look, and followed. Richie had just gotten the door open, as they came into the entryway, and so they were able to hear what the purple wearing, redheaded girl standing on the doorstep was saying quite clearly.

"New friends Static and Gear, I am regretful to say that the station of gas has become crowded. Also, the others have become physically ill, because something in friend Gear's building corner exploded, and now the entire building smells like the backside of a Betar-Raff."

There was a moment of silence following this statement, and then Sharon opened her mouth to ask what, exactly, this slightly. . . . different looking girl was talking about. She didn't get the chance; just then Robert Hawkins came walking down the stairs, asking, "Who's that at the door?"

As he was talking, the shadows on the wall, opposite the banister, that the stairs were built against began to darken. The blackness stretched, and grew, and then slid silkily down the steps to a spot just behind the two panicked and frozen teen boys standing in front of the open doorway. When the darker than dark shadow reached its destination, its shape changed into that of a raven with two glowing white, slanted eyes. The bird's wings spread, and it gave out a silent screech, head stretching upward, and then it vanished, leaving a pale grey skinned girl in its place.

She had short, dark blue-purple hair, which was cut at a sharp angle on either side of her face so that the ends of her 'bangs' slanted down from the back of her neck towards her shoulders. She was wearing a cloak, a long sleeved leotard, and a pair of boots all of the same midnight blue, and had a diamond shaped gem of the same color centered on her forehead.

Robert stumbled backwards a step, from the surprise, and the others all turned to see what the commotion was about. Both Sharon and Trina gasped, taking in the sight of Raven, who was brushing a fine, white powder off of her clothes. "Sulfur," she said, by way of greeting, "The whole place stinks of sulfur." Sharon stood for a moment, gaping, silent, and unmoving, before rounding on Virgil. Her face was stormy, and her knuckles were clenched so tightly around the handle of her spatula that the tendons in her arm stood out sharply.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed. "I knew you were– are– Static!"

"Uh. . . ." Understandably the boy couldn't think up a suitable response, and simply ended up with, "I can explain. . . ."

It was at about this time that Beast Boy and Robin showed up, the former coughing in a way that suggested he couldn't get rid of a bad smell, and the latter brushing his hair clean of the white dust that was the cause of all this trouble to begin with. The two new arrivals blinked at the scene before them in open confusion: Virgil was trying to keep the couch between himself and Sharon, and, failing that, using Richie as a human shield to keep himself safe from the sharp rap of his sister's spatula.

"Stop protecting him, Richie! If you don't move, I'm going to blame you, too!" Sharon ordered, her tone exasperated, as her quarry's long-time friend once again shielded him.

"Sorry, Sharon," the blond told her with a grin, as he was once again maneuvered around so that he stayed between the quarreling siblings, "but V's got a sub-clause in his will that states that if he gets killed, and I didn't do anything to help, then I don't get his Gamestation." After seeing the young woman's skeptical expression he added, "Besides, he won't let me."

Because Richie had pointed it out, the white-purple sparks of electricity coating Virgil's hands suddenly became noticeable; the dark skinned boy was clutching at his friend's sweater, and was using his 'Static Cling' to drag the other boy along in front of him. Sharon made an angry sound, as Virgil stuck his tongue out at her over Richie's shoulder, and, true to her word, moved to strike. The two metahumans jumped apart, diving in opposite directions. Virgil went to the right, ending up behind Robin, while Richie went to the left, hiding shamelessly behind Trina.

Sharon looked between them, and then once again went after her brother, spatula raised threateningly. Robin's eyes widened comically, and he dodged the approaching swing with long practiced ease. Deprived of any cover once again, Virgil dived behind Raven, who glanced down at him calmly. "Beast Boy did it," she told him flatly, and then drifted sideways, out of Sharon's way, her cloak's hem swishing softly as she went. The electric powered teen hid behind Beast Boy this time, though now he wanted some answers in addition to protection.

"Why'd you touch anything when Gear specifically told you not to?" he hissed, as he gave the green furred boy a few gentle shakes.

"It wasn't my fault, dude!" Beast Boy protested, as he and Virgil jumped away from Sharon. "I only went under the table to stop Silkie from eating one its legs! I sat up too soon on my way out, and bumped the edge!" Robin's eye twitched.

"You _brought Silkie_?" he asked angrily, his teeth grinding together audibly.

"If I left him at the Tower, he'd get lonely and start eating. It'd be worse than the last time!" Beast Boy replied defensively, causing the other Titans to pause and remember the state of their home after 'the last time' in way that was almost a visible flashback. Richie, who was still behind Trina, looked like he wanted to ask about what had happened, and just what this 'Silkie' was, exactly, but he never got the chance; at that moment, Cyborg slipped into the house, having had to wait until he was sure he could do so unnoticed, and closed the door behind him. Hearing it shut, all assembled turned to see who else had arrived.

The cybernetic teen rubbed the back of his head nervously, and, as a greeting, said, "Something smells good! Who's cooking?" Everyone blinked at him for a moment, as the luggage in their trains of thought had to be transferred from baggage car to baggage car frantically, until everyone was as caught up as they could be, given the situation. If a few things were lost during the switch, no one could really be blamed, and so it was that Sharon fell back on the one thing that still made sense at the moment: dinner. Beaming, she turned her attention to Cyborg.

"I am. Thank you for the compliment." She shot a scowl at her brother, and added as an aside to him, "At least someone appreciates a hard cooked meal!" Realizing the danger had passed, for the moment– Sharon was, after all, a ticking time bomb when pressed to her stress limit, and it seemed that she had reached it a while ago– Virgil slunk out from behind Beast Boy. Richie, too, came out of hiding, and he and his long time friend and more recent partner met in the center of the room.

"He's only saying that 'cause he's never had to eat it," the latter of the boys muttered, only loud enough that the first could hear it; Richie struggled to keep a strait face. Sharon frowned at them, no longer angry enough to go after them for having a bit off innocent, and, quite frankly, expected, fun. Even though it _was_ at her expense. She still wanted to tell them off for. . . . something, after everything they had, and definitely were going to, put her through that night. Her eyes narrowed suddenly, and the spatula in her hand flew up once again to point directly into Richie's understandably startled face.

"You! First of all, I'm as angry with you as I am with Virgil! I had to find out that the two of you are superheroes through someone else! But then, I should have known you–" here she gestured at Virgil, "– really _were_ Static the first time I saw him–" this wave of her free hand went towards Richie, who was warily watching the violently waving spatula, "–dressed as Gear! He's the only person dorky enough to hang out with you!"

"Hey!" exclaimed the genius, looking insulted, "I resent tha– wait. . . ." He turned to Virgil, now looking perplexed, though that could have been an act. "Is that an insult, or a compliment?" He was answered with a blank look, and a shrug, so he simply made a musing sound, and looked innocently back at Sharon. She sighed in exasperation, and went back into the kitchen, muttering something under her breath that went along the lines of 'little brothers are such a _pain_!'

"Wow," said Beast Boy, "I'm glad I don't have to live with her."

"I heard that!" came the irritated shout from the other room, and the green furred boy made a frightened noise somewhere between a gasp and a squeak, and hid behind Raven for good measure. Virgil grinned at him knowingly.

"You're lucky that you don't have to suffer through her wrath every day. This time I think she's angry enough to try and kill me in my sleep!"

"Try?" Sharon yelled at him, from the kitchen. "Ha! I'll do more than just try, little bro!" The brother in question made a face that was trying to be a cringe, but somehow came off as more of a wince that decided to change into a grimace before it was even halfway completed, and ran a hand through his dreadlocks. Richie hooked an arm around Virgil's shoulders, with the casual ease of long practice, and managed to make it a gesture that was both comforting and supportive.

"I don't know if you know this or not, V," the blond said teasingly, "but there's a wonderful little invention known as a lock, and it's conveniently installed in the handles of most bedroom and bathroom doors." Virgil rolled his eyes, though there was a small smile trying to grow on his face as he did so.

"So that's what those things are for!" he replied dryly, and Raven raised a suspiciously knowledgeable eyebrow at their antics. Starfire's expression, however, turned to one of surprised confusion.

"You did no know what the locks were for?" she asked Virgil, a frown on her face.

"They were being sarcastic, Starfire," said Robin, and the alien girl made a sound of comprehension, her confusion falling away.

"Oh, yes. I know of the sarcasm. It is a type of dry, sometimes foul humor that humans often like to use," Starfire responded cheerfully, her right hand and index finger raised in the pointing gesture she liked to use when explaining something, or when answering a question. There was a brief silence after she made her point, but it didn't last that long, as her teammates were mostly used to her antics.

"Uh. . . . yeah," Cyborg said, finally, as no one else seemed to be able to think of something to say to that.

Richie blinked, and turned to Robin, asking, "What planet is she from?" The caped teen blinked, wondering if the other boy was being sarcastic, but, after realizing there hadn't been any emphasis on the word 'she,' he decided that the genius was, indeed, genuinely curious.

"Tamaran," Robin answered. "It's in the Vega system." Trina had watched the earlier interactions with amusement, and had listened, as well as she could, at any rate, to the night's drama without intervening, but a thought had just occurred to her, so she spoke up, making her presence known once more.

"Robin," she called, to gain his attention. "Sorry for interrupting," the police officer continued, once he had turned toward, and moved closer to her, "but I was wondering how long you and the Titans will be staying here. After all, with so many superheroes in one place, the police force will be out of their jobs." Trina smiled as she spoke, obviously teasing, and Robin smirked slightly, amused by the woman's sense of humor.

"I'm not really sure on a definite time," the caped martial artist told her, with a shrug. "The only reason I'm here is to get these two," he indicated Richie, who had gone off to ask Starfire about her home planet, and Virgil, who was involved in a heated discussion with Beast Boy about some new video game that was about to be released, "to help me on a mission. The others followed me here against orders."

Hearing this, Robert snapped out of whatever state of shock he had fallen into upon the sudden appearance of the five strange superheroes, and continued descending the stairs. "Well, since you're here, you might as well stay for dinner. At least, if Sharon thinks there'll be enough food." Raven, who was now examining the books on the shelf against the corner wall that was formed by the stairs and the wall, which separated the kitchen from the family room, turned around to look at the man.

"I think that's what Cyborg was grabbed for," she told him, and everyone automatically scanned the room for the boy in question. He wasn't in the room, but, now that it was quiet, the cybernetic teen's voice could be heard in the kitchen, asking Sharon a question.

Her answer was to shout, "Virgil, get your scrawny behind in here right now, and set the table for ten!" The electric powered teen frowned at the wall for a moment, before reluctantly pulling himself away from his conversation with Beast Boy to go make peace, or at least a temporary one, with his sister. By the time he returned, the green furred boy had wandered off to ask Raven what it was that she had found to read, and so he went to see what Richie was up to.

The blond was completely immersed in his conversation with Starfire, and was now questioning her about her planet's government, so, upon seeing the alien girl's expression, Virgil couldn't help but say a variant on the 'inside joke' he had thought up shortly after the first time Static and Gear met the Justice League. "His brain requires all the information on your planet," he said, expression playful, "but don't worry– he won't blow it up when he's done." The Tamaranian was understandably confused, and looked it, but Richie reacted the way that he always did.

"Enough with the Brainiac cracks!' he said, putting on an affronted face, but there was a fond smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, showing that he wasn't really angry, despite his tone; the blond didn't need his downright shocking genius to know that it was Virgil's way of saying, without really saying, that he would always be there for him, no matter what happened. Richie didn't make a big deal about it, because the fact that the other boy kept bringing the subject up, even as a 'joke,' meant that the whole situation was still weighing heavily on his mind. The inventor's customary response to the 'joke' was his way of telling Virgil to let it go. Everything had worked out all right in the end, and if he kept worrying about what had happened, he would end up worrying himself right into an early grave.

When Virgil had first mentioned Brainiac, Robin turned from his conversation with Trina and Robert– explaining that he needed the help of Dakota's two home heroes for an unknown length of time– to listen. He frowned, and opened his mouth to ask what the two other boys were talking about, but Raven caught his eye and shook her head almost imperceptibly. Robin was confused, but let it go, trusting Raven to know when a subject was off limits.

* * *

Ending Note from Kiela: Well, I finally got Chapter 2 typed from our hard copy, and, despite the length of time it took, I feel rather proud of how quickly this went. If anyone wants to know why, just go look at my solo stuff, and check the time between their 'Updated' dates, and now. That's your answer: I'm a rather slow writer, because I edit things to pieces and back together again. My apologies to any anxious readers. Oh, and if anyone spots any mistakes, I'd like to know.

Ending Note from Crisis: Welp all I have to say is Kiela did most of the work, while I sat back and relaxed ! Eheh. That's because we're far away from each other now, plus she hogs the fic anyway. Enough rambling GO FEED THE REVIEW BOX S'IL VOUS PLAIT!


	5. Chapter 2pt5: Watch Them Get It Wrong!

**_The Trouble with Villains and Heroes  
_** Written by Her Royal Highness Princess Kiela S., and the infamous Pirate Crisis Haylo.

Note from Kiela: . . . . 'Half chapter.' . . . . What? That's all I've got to say on the matter, so deal with it.

Reviewer responses by Crisis:  
puffin: Thank you so much! Don't worry, we're working on the story, but it's a bit hard since we leave one state away from each other now. Place sad emote here.  
Princess of Mirrors: Well, if you've watched the season 3 episode 'A League of Their Own' parts 1 and 2 you would get the whole Brainiac thing. Tee hee. Hm, it a was a little far fetched? Drats, there goes our realism. Or lack of. Huh? What?  
Nikana: Wow you talk as if we don't update for years! Geesh don't you people have any patience? Cwisis sad! For now just enjoy the outtakes. Again.  
SnakeMisterss: Hehe, thanks! We hope you'll enjoy the whole undercover event when it comes around. Kiela and I know we'll be enjoying it.  
Dooley: Tada! We updated, happy? Good. Though you'll have to wait for chapter 3.  
LaBOBuren: What? You hate our bloopers? Is that what you're implying? You make my stomach sad you know? But. . . . you get brownie points for liking my ending note. I love you. . . .  
um: That was a blooper. Hey we get bored of our own story sometimes. Silly boo boo head!  
Saturn's Hikari: You could so be our announcer! That would be so peachy :) Thanks for your compliments on the whole hideout introduction. We had fun writing that part. Oh and do not fear more V/R-ness along with the other pairing we mentioned are to come.  
I-Shave-Clowns: Yeah! Thanks for finding our outtakes funny! We love seeing good feedbacks about them. Well I do anyway, don't know about Kiela. (Imaginary Kiela: I do too! Hello? Crisis? Are you listening to me?)  
Draga: Yes there will be bloopers after each chapter. I hope you'll enjoy the others just as the first one!

* * *

_The Trouble with Villains and Heroes_:  
Chapter 2.5, "Watch Them Get It Wrong! Part 2"

* * *

  
"TTwVaH Act 2, Scene 1, Take 7!" _Snap_.

"Action!"

They eventually decided on who was going to be in which group, and when to meet the next day, Friday, which was going to be difficult for Static and Gear because it was a school day. As they were assigning areas for the groups to search, Backpack sat up and gave off a bell like alarm. Upon hearing it, Static jumped to his feet, looking more than just a little bit panicked.

"Oh, man! I'm gonna be late for dinner! My pops is gonna kill me!" he blurted, as he dashed towards the back room of The Gas Station. Gear quirked and eyebrow, and had just opened his mouth to say something, when there was a squeak of rubber against tile, and Static stumbled. He had too much momentum going, because of how fast he had been running, and he did a strange, and decidedly funny looking flip and roll, crashing through the door leading to their storage area. Everyone blinked at the doorway he had disappeared through, and the camera panned uncertainly back and forth between the table and the door, before Gear pushed off and up out of his chair, skating over to the entrance to the other room with a concerned frown firmly on his face.

"Hey, Static, I'm the one with the skates, here. You don't even have shoelaces to trip over," the blond was saying, as he rolled to a stop just outside of the room's entrance. A groan that sounded faintly like the words 'oh, shut up' answered him, and as Gear's expression turned to relief, there was a shout from off screen:

"Cut!" And the screen went dark.

* * *

"TTwVaH Act 2, Scene 3, Take 10!" _Snap_

.

"Action!"

There was a moment of silence following this statement, and then Sharon opened her mouth to ask what, exactly, this slightly. . . . different looking girl was talking about. She didn't get the chance; just then Robert Hawkins came walking down the stairs, asking, "Who's that at the door?"

As he was talking, the shadows on the wall, opposite the banister, that the stairs were built against began to darken. The blackness stretched, and grew, and then slid silkily down the steps to a spot just behind the two panicked and frozen teen boys standing in front of the open doorway. When the darker than dark shadow reached its destination, its shape changed into that of a raven with two glowing white, slanted eyes. The bird's wings spread, and it gave out a silent screech, head stretching upward, and then it vanished, leaving a pale grey skinned girl in its place.

She had short, dark blue-purple hair, which was cut at a sharp angle on either side of her face so that the ends of her 'bangs' slanted down from the back of her neck towards her shoulders. She was wearing a cloak, and it was. . . . pink. It was, possibly, the brightest hot pink color ever invented, and everyone present blinked at her in open shock. Raven giggled as she noticed the surprised stares, a half nervous and half amused sound, in a strange reverse of her normal behavior, before she managed to clap a hand over her mouth. Her robe's color abruptly melted back to its normal midnight blue, as she said, "Well, great. If anyone needs me," and the bite in her tone suggested no one would, or there would be a price to pay, "I'll be meditating in my trailer."

The set was quiet with shock as she drifted out, and then the director yelled, "Cut!"

* * *

"TTwVaH Act 2, Scene 3, Take 11!" _Snap_.

"Action!"

It was at about this time that Beast Boy and Robin showed up, the former coughing in a way that suggested he couldn't get rid of a bad smell, and the latter brushing his hair clean of the white dust that was the cause of all this trouble to begin with. The two new arrivals blinked at the scene before them in open confusion: Virgil was trying to keep the couch between himself and Sharon, and, failing that, using Richie as a human shield to keep himself safe from the sharp rap of his sister's spatula.

"Stop protecting him, Richie! If you don't move, I'm going to blame you, too!" Sharon ordered, her tone exasperated, as her quarry's long-time friend once again shielded him from her.

"Now, Sharon," the blond said patiently, as he was once again maneuvered around so that he stayed between the quarreling siblings. "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I did that? Not a very good one, I'd say." The partial smile his mouth was curving into as he spoke seemed to deflect any effects of the slack jawed expressions of disbelief adorning the Titans' faces, as well as the snickers coming from somewhere behind the camera. Virgil grinned wolfishly at his sister, though the edges of it looked teasing, and– if you glanced at it just the right way– downright amused, before slipping his arms possessively around Richie's waist.

Sharon stared at them blankly for a moment, as the situation was registering, before blinking several times. "I knew it!" she cried gleefully. "See, Daddy, I told you I wasn't imagining things!" Robert, still standing on the stairs, cleared his throat nervously as Richie and Virgil twisted around to stare at him accusingly.

By this point, the camera had acquired an alarming wobble, shaking in a way that suggested the one holding it was trying to hold in laughter. Unfortunately it didn't work, and the scene was called to cut as the head of the film crew collapsed, laughing so hard that her breathing had ceased to occur naturally. There was a confused rush to help, and the screen blanked out.

* * *

"TTwVaH Act 2, Scene 3, Take 12!" _Snap_

.

"Action!"

Sharon's eyes narrowed suddenly, and the spatula in her hand flew up once again to point directly into Richie's understandably startled face.

"You! First of all, I'm as angry with you as I am with Virgil! I had to find out that the two of you are superheroes through someone else! But then, I should have known you–" here she gestured at Virgil, "– really _were_ Static the first time I saw Gear! After all, the way the two of you act around each other is obvious!"

"Huh?" the two boys in question asked at the same time, looking at her quizzically, and she rolled her eyes.

"Oh, for the love of–! You're not fooling anyone with half a brain! The two of you are obviously gay together, and everyone notices it eventually if they hang around you long enough!" Virgil and Richie blinked rapidly in surprise, and then turned to frown at each other.

"You know, she does have a point." Richie said after a moment of thinking on the subject, once again ignoring the shell-shocked looks on the Titans' faces. Virgil raised an eyebrow at him, shrugged, and smiled at him with the smile that he reserved specifically for the blond; Sharon sighed in exasperation, and went back into the kitchen, muttering something under her breath that went along the lines of 'oh, honestly. Denial is so over rated, anyway.'

There were two strangled giggles from off screen, and then the director shouted out from the back, still laughing, "Sharon's right you guys, it's obvious! Stop gawking, Titans, you're just catching flies! Cut now, Kiela!"

* * *

"TTwVaH Act 2, Scene 4, Take 8!" _Snap_.

"Action!"

Hearing this, Robert snapped out of whatever state of shock he had fallen into upon the sudden appearance of the five strange superheroes, and continued descending the stairs. "Well, since you're here, you might as well stay for dinner. At least, if Sharon thinks there'll be enough food." Raven, who was now examining the books on the shelf against the corner wall that was formed by the stairs and the wall, which separated the kitchen from the family room, turned around to look at the man.

"I think that's what Cyborg–" Her sentence was cut off as the bookshelf she had just reached toward to pull a book off of tipped forward in her direction, falling faster than she could react, too quickly for her to get her energy up to keep it from moving. She managed to pull one into existence before it crushed her, though, and pushed it back into place while everyone asked her, in one confused jumble of sound, if she was all right.

"See, Crisis, I told you we should have spent more on the set!" the head of the camera crew hissed loudly, while everything was being sorted out.

"Spent what? We're broke enough as it is! Stop wasting tape and cut already!" Though she muttered something about how the director had no qualms about wasting film on blackmail, compliance was quick to be carried out. The screen went dark just as Beast Boy was helping Raven back up onto her feet.

* * *

"TTwVaH Act 2, Scene 4, Take 13!" _Snap_

.

"Action!"

The blond was completely immersed in his conversation with Starfire, and was now questioning her about her planet's government, so, upon seeing the alien girl's expression, Virgil couldn't help but say a variant on the 'inside joke' he had thought up shortly after the first time Static and Gear met the Justice League. "His brain requires all the information on your planet," he said, expression playful, "but don't worry– he won't blow it up when he's done." The Tamaranian was understandably confused, and looked it, but Richie's expression changed abruptly.

"Are you sure about that, Virg?" the blond asked, his voice darkened somehow. His eyes glinted evilly over his glasses, which now reflected the light in the stereotypical 'evil genius' manner, and the left corner of his mouth turned upward in a suspiciously secretive smirk. Virgil's eyebrows lifted at he stared evenly back at his partner, while Starfire looked back and forth between them with a vaguely panicked face. There was silence for a rather long moment, before the two boys cracked up, setting off the rest of the cast and crew.

Eventually the director got her breath back, and yelled, "Okay, Cut!"

* * *

_  
_Ending Note from Kiela: I think a quote will do nicely: ". . . . . . . . . I got nothing."

Ending Note from Crisis: . . . . . . I wish I had a giant robot.


	6. Chapter 3: Q, A, and Meaningful Convo

**_The Trouble with Villains and Heroes  
_**Written by Her Royal Highness Princess Kiela S., and the infamous Pirate Crisis Haylo.

Note from Kiela: Sorry for the wait, everyone. It seems like Crisis and I work best when we're face to face, and that's rather problematic considering the distance separating us. On top of that, she's finally had enough of and certain members and/or lurkers, and has left. Not to fear, though! I'm not letting her give up on this story, at least.

Note from Crisis: Uhhh, sorry that it's taken us soooo, extreeemeeely long to write this chapter. Like Kiela has mentioned, the distance between us made us go "Dur. . . soo, what now?" "Eh, let's just go RP." "Cool," or something of the sort. Anyway, enjoy our latest chapter.

* * *

_The Trouble with Villains and Heroes_:  
Chapter 3, "Questions, Answers, and Meaningful Conversation"

* * *

Spending time with family for dinner is sometimes a lovely way to pass the evening. Unless you spend the whole meal arguing with your older sibling while your father and his girlfriend try to keep the peace, and your best friend does nothing to help– just the opposite, in fact. And when you add five unusual dinner guests to the mix. . . . Well, things get more than a little complicated.

"Cyborg, would you _please_ stop stealing food off of my plate?" Robin snapped, frowning at the other male.

"Hey, man, it's not my fault you chew so slow."

"I simply adore the unique taste of this feast Sharon has prepared for us!" Starfire exclaimed happily, and then shoved another forkful of something into her mouth.

"See, Virgil? At least some people like my cooking," Sharon told her younger brother, pointing her knife in his general direction, though the move had seemed more casually absent minded than dangerous. The boy in question eyed the utensil, before deciding that the table between the two of them would keep him safe.

"I'm just surprised that they haven't keeled over yet," he told her, smirking.

"What did you say?" was the shouted response, and several of the Titans looked at her warily.

"Well, it's true! The stuff you call food would have killed me by now if I hadn't built up an immunity!"

"Now Virgil," Trina tried, but was cut off.

"What? Then why do you– you shouldn't have an excuse to complain about the taste, then!"

"I never said I had a resistance to the taste, now did I?"

"Virgil, don't sass your–" Robert was the next one to attempt an intervention, but he was also cut off, once again by Sharon.

"Oooh! You little–!"

"Besides, I'm not the one with the taste buds of steel. He is." Richie struck a heroic pose, as Virgil gestured at him, holding his fork in the way warriors of old would grip the hilt of a sword to exaggerate their bravery and glamour. He ruined it by grinning.

"It's my Irish heritage showing through," he said, and scooped up another large mouthful of what was supposed to be meatloaf. Beast Boy poked at his portion, frowning.

"I'm a vegetarian! I can't eat this!" he exclaimed, glancing at Sharon apologetically. She blinked at him in surprise.

"Oh, a vegetarian? What's your reason?"

"I'm called Beast Boy for a reason, you know! I've _been_ most of the animals people eat!" he told her, arms waving frantically to emphasize his point. "Do you have any idea what it's like–?" Raven cut him off with a sharp motion of her hand, glaring.

"Will you be quiet if I give you _my_ vegetables?" she asked him, her eyebrow twitching from the angry pulse of a vein in her forehead.

"You'd do that?" Beast Boy gaped at her, obviously not having expected anything of the kind.

"To get you to shut up," Raven answered, her voice resigned, though no longer holding any irritation. The dry tone that reply came in did nothing to dampen the other teen's happiness, and the payment for the green furred boy's silence was deposited on his plate via a bubble of dark energy. After transferring his meatloaf to the girl's plate in exchange, Beast Boy dug into his now completely vegetarian friendly meal vigorously.

Following the pandemonium of dinner, Robert convinced his irritated daughter to take care of the dishes with him and Trina, who had insisted on helping despite protests that she was a guest, in order for his son, and the boy who he had come to accept as a second son, to have time to talk with their fellow superheroes in the family room. As he worked, Robert thought about what had happened so far that night, and sighed mentally.

Sometimes day-to-day living was too complicated for words, and it seemed like today was one of those days that you would be glad to see over. He'd been having a lot of them since he had found out that 'his boys' were Big Bang powered crime fighters, but he had done all he could to adjust to and be accepting of that fact. But then, he'd had a great deal of experience with dealing with world altering revelations and changes, so he simply figured that the rest of the understanding would just have to come from his natural reserves- and that he would just have to be patient for that time to come.

His struggle to accept that Jean's job as a paramedic would put her in near constant danger, because of all the gang wars that broke out, had been similar, but he had managed it eventually. He just had to tell himself that she had chosen to do it, despite the risks, and that Richie and Virgil were doing the same thing. Even then it was still hard, but he was getting used to having superheroes in the family.

* * *

"I still can't believe that you brought Silkie," said Robin, as the seven teen crime fighters settled onto the couch and floor, making themselves comfortable for the long discussion ahead. Beast Boy frowned defensively.

"I already told you why! Besides, it's Star's turn to take care of him, not mine! She's the one who brought him!" he told the caped teen, and Starfire, who was sitting on the sofa with Silkie cradled in her arms, looked up from feeding the mutant moth larva what appeared to be hot pink slime out of a small, dark purple and pink gourd shaped jar.

"I could not leave my little bumgorf all alone!" she exclaimed, with a small frown. "What if he were to become hungry? I would not be a fit k'norfka if I allowed him to starve! Or what if he–"

"We get the idea," Raven interrupted, and Robin sighed, letting his irritation over the subject fade because of how important it was to the alien girl. Virgil mouthed the words 'bumgorf' and 'k'norfka' at Richie, a questioning expression on his face, and the blond responded with 'charge' and 'nanny' respectively. The confused expression cleared away, and seeing this, the super brain turned towards Starfire.

"Okay. Two questions," he told her, holding up two fingers and wiggling them for emphasis. "One." The second finger folded back into his fist as he said this, leaving only the first. "Just _what_, exactly, _is_ Silkie?" The second finger came back up, as he continued speaking, "And two-"

"What's that pink gunk you're feeding him?" Virgil finished for him, and the genius grinned.

"Yeah, what he said."

Robin answered the first question, launching into a brief, but information packed description of Killer Moth, the purpose for which he had created his mutant moth army, the ensuing battle, and how all of the moths had reverted back to larva form after their 'father' had been defeated. Richie and Virgil listened with interest, and when the Boy Wonder finished, they turned their attention back to Starfire, who began explaining what she was feeding the little creature in her arms.

"This mixture is made of mashed Zorka berries, a deliciously bitter fruit from my home planet Tamaran, and a formula that Robin and Cyborg came up with to prevent Silkie from going through his molting cycle. As long as he ingests a set amount of this substance a day, he will not become compelled to eat everything in sight when lonely or bored," she informed them happily, holding out another spoonful of the pink goop out for the moth larva to eat. As the red haired alien continued to feed her 'little bumgorf,' the others started asking one another questions. After all, they had already decided what they were going to do the next day when they were at the gas station, which Richie assured them would be sufficiently aired out by the time they returned there.

"If I'm wrong, I can always adapt something to get rid of the smell," he had said, and when Cyborg asked if anyone might notice the horrible scent and go investigating, the group at large was told that he had coated the station's walls with a special paint of his own invention to prevent that from happening, just in case of a situation like this one. After that, Beast Boy asked if they had any video games, and he spent the rest of the evening playing a fighter pilot game with Cyborg, while Robin watched.

Raven was sitting in mid air, reading a book that she had found on the shelf in the corner, while Starfire hovered over Virgil and Richie, who were studying for a test that they had the next day. That is to say, the genius was quizzing his dark skinned partner on the subjects he was sure they were going to be tested on, and even a few he wasn't, just to be sure all bases were covered. Predictably, the dreadlocked teen complained several times, though quietly, and without anger, about how his friend's photographic memory allowed him to _not_ cram for his life the eve of an exam.

After a while, Robert came out to tell them all what time it was, and to invite the Titans to stay the night. Hesitant to impose, the five visiting heroes held a quick conference, and decided to accept the invitation on the grounds that they didn't have anywhere else to stay. It was at this time Trina said her goodbyes, thanking Sharon for dinner, Robert for having her over, and the crime fighters for doing what they did, thus helping out the police force. She thanked Dakota's own especially, pulling the two surprised boys into a hug as the family walked her to the door.

"Now I know why you didn't want me to search your backpack," she teased Virgil– causing him to flush and grin in embarrassment– and then bid everyone a good night. Sharon went upstairs, muttering something about an essay for one of her college classes, and Robert followed, shaking his head at the world in general. Those remaining in the family room looked at each other, shrugged, and resumed what they had previously been doing for a few minuets more before turning in for the night.

* * *

The next morning found Starfire and Raven sharing Virgil's room, which he had given up to them so that they could have some privacy. Cyborg had sat down against the wall in the family room that couldn't be seen from either the front door, or the kitchen door, thereby providing himself with an escape route in case someone dropped by unexpectedly. He usually plugged himself into his system recharger over night, but he'd had to make due with the wall plug and an adapter.

Robin was laying on the right side of the couch, and he was somehow managing to sprawl out and curl up at the same time. The sofa had originally been split into three sections to sleep on, but some time during the night, that had changed to a division by half; the left side of the piece of furniture was now occupied by both Richie and Virgil, the two of them having shifted into the same space in an unconscious attempt to make themselves more comfortable. Beast Boy had taken the easy way out, changing into a kitten and curling up on the back of the sofa, where he wouldn't have to fight the other teens for a place to sleep.

Sharon's eyebrows lifted as she took in the sight of the family room, her lips turning upward at the corners in a small smile as she noticed the way her brother and his friend were curled together, and shook her head. Walking down the stairs and into the kitchen as quietly as she could, the young woman set about making breakfast for nine people, as Robert didn't have to go in to the Community Center until much later that morning, and would therefore be present during their first meal of the day for once in a long, long while.

Robin, hearing Sharon's movement despite all of her best efforts to the contrary, woke himself up and went to help her out, but only after sweeping the room with a quick glance that served as a head count; they were essentially in 'the field,' after all, and Robin wasn't about to take any chances while he was sharing a house with civilians.

As the smell of cooking food filled the house, the other occupants began to stir as well. The green kitten that was Beast Boy sat up, stretching his back, and made the mistake of returning to his normal form while still half asleep. As a result, he tipped off of the relatively thin edge he had been perched on, and crashed into the ground behind the couch. The sound woke Virgil and Richie, who peered blearily over the back of the sofa at the unfortunate furred boy, and brought Raven and Starfire literally flying down the stairs to see what had happened. Cyborg, who had woken up shortly after Robin, stuck his head out of the kitchen door, but before he could ask, Raven spoke.

"Beast Boy," she said in answer to the cybernetic teen's questioning look, and that was all the explanation that was needed; Cyborg disappeared back into the kitchen, and the morning continued without further incident. Breakfast was as sedate as could be expected, with as many teenagers as there were in the room, all crowded together, and, afterwards, Robert left for the Community Center, followed shortly afterwards by Virgil and Richie as they headed off to school. This left the Titans at a loss as to what to do with themselves for the day, but Sharon offered up the shower, because the superheroes were still shedding small amounts of the white powder that had, in part, brought them to the house in the first place.

Raven was the first to make use of the invitation, after which she borrowed one of the older girl's less colorful outfits to wear in lieu of her still dirty cloak and leotard. The rather somber teen had been having a difficult time convincing Sharon that, no, she did not want to wear that pink shirt and pants, but in the end everything was worked out, and nothing had been blown up or broken. Starfire was the second to shower, emerging wearing the outfit that Raven had rejected. Cyborg decided to wash up as well, if only to prevent the fine powder from finding its way into his circuitry, and he did so while Robin followed Sharon's orders to raid Virgil's closet, and the young woman herself was showing Starfire the different ways she could style her own hair.

By the time Robin had taken his turn in the bathroom, Raven had finished the thick book she had started the night before, and Starfire's long, pink-red hair had been pulled into a loose ponytail from about the ears up, leaving the rest of her locks to hang free. The alien girl was thoroughly enjoying her new look, and the instant the now costume free martial artist came out of the steam filled room at the end of the hall, he was graced with an unexpected flying hug that knocked him backwards.

"Robin!" Starfire exclaimed joyously, upon impact, and the surprised Boy Wonder only had enough time to get out half of a questioning word before he was released. "Look! Sharon was kind enough to show me many styles of the hair!" To emphasize this statement, the cheerful girl turned in the air once, slowly enough that Robin, who was now dressed in a plain red long sleeved shirt and a pair of baggy, worn blue jeans, was able to see every change to her appearance.

"You look. . . . nice, Star," he managed. "But out of costume, my name is Dick." Starfire only smiled at him.

"You will always be Robin to me, Robin," she told him in the soft, even tone that she reserved only for when she was speaking seriously with him, a fact that did not escape Robin's notice, though he understandably had problems figuring out how to deal with it, having spent a number of his formative years bearing witness to the less than perfect relationships that Gotham's Night Terror frequently found himself in.

Sharon watched the two younger teens interacting, with a small, slightly amused smile. Usually this expression was directed at Richie and Virgil, during their more. . . . ambiguous moment, but Starfire and Robin really were too cute for words when they strayed into their own little world. Shaking her head, the nineteen-year-old went back into her room, more than happy to stay there and fine-tune the essay she had due later that day, when her classes actually started.

The Hawkins' relatively small house just wasn't made to be inhabited by so many people at once, and the place was beyond overcrowded, so when Robin continued past her room on his way to tell Beast Boy that the bathroom was free– the green furred boy had a tendency to shed whole fistfuls of hair at a time, so he was forced to wash last– Sharon didn't budge from her desk.

The day wore on, and, while trusting the Titans to do their very best not to destroy the house, she was reluctant to leave for Dakota University when no one else would be there. In the end, though, she had no choice, and by the time Virgil returned home, his blond friend in tow, everyone had found things to do that wouldn't pose any threat of damaging the walls or furniture.

Cyborg and Beast Boy were once again immersed in a video game, while Raven was meditating in a corner, and Starfire was once again practicing her Tamaranian folk dance. Robin was simultaneously working on a small mechanical device, the parts of which were spread out over the coffee table, and keeping an eye Silkie, who was napping on one of the arms of the couch.

Blinking, the two metahumans found themselves a place to sit, and tried to relax as much as they could. It was Friday, and while they were used to sacrificing most of their free time to patrols, this was different; it would be much more embarrassing to mess up on their own turf, in front of superhero peers of the same age, rather than the older ones, who know that experience can only come with time.

Eventually the hour that they had agreed upon arrived, and the first group, which consisted of Robin– now going by the alias of John– and a hologram disguised Cyborg, left the Hawkins' house via Raven's shadow teleportation spell. They headed off as quickly as they could, while still avoiding unwanted attention, and made it to their destination about a minute ahead of schedule. The two of them split up and went to the two locations that they had deemed the most likely to yield any useful information, at least in their search sector.

* * *

Two and a half hours later, both of the undercover Titans rendezvoused at their starting point, having found nothing worthwhile. They slumped angrily back towards the Hawkins' residence, steaming in silence, passing a cheaper, copycat establishment based off of Starbucks on the way. Normally, nothing there would have drawn their attention, but Robin's sharp ears– long used to straining names and key phrases out of the background noise at parties– caught a reference to Virgil. Slowing down, he signaled to Cyborg, and the two of them found places to stand nearby where they could listen without drawing attention to themselves.

"What about Virgil and Richie?" The speaker was a black girl, with shoulder length hair. She was wearing a pair of well fitting jeans, and redish-orange shirt with a flower on the front. Another girl, with long brown hair, green eyes, and sensible clothes, sat across from her.

"Well, I've been observing them closely for the last few months," replied the other girl. "And. . . . Well, let's just say I've seen some pretty suspicious things. Like, they'll suddenly have to leave class for whatever nonsense reason and then they never come back. Not to mention the fact that their excuses when they blow us off are utter crud." Hearing this both of the Titans shared wide eyed, dismayed looks, fearing that she was onto their new allies' secret identities.

"I know! It still annoys me when they do that, but at least they're predictable about it." The black girl stirred her coffee as if it were at fault for her friends' perceived unreliability; the other girl most likely agreed with her, if harassed expressions were anything to go by. The two of them were silent for a while, attending their drinks, but then the brunette took up the conversation again.

"Anyway, I got to thinking about that time they were fighting. You remember. Our freshman year, a few months after you transferred?"

"Of course I remember, Frieda. Both of them were moping around for that entire week. I think I told Richie that he looked like he had swallowed a lemon, and Virgil was walking around like someone had died. What about it?" Frieda took a drink of her coffee, and stared at the cup as she lowered it, contemplating how to best put her revelation into words.

"It just made me think about how close the two of them are," she said finally. "It's like they're two halves of a whole. They can't function normally unless they know the other part is there to support them." The black girl smiled fondly, and the expression brightened her face.

"I noticed that, too."

"Well. . . ." the brunette hesitated, fiddling with a corner of her paper napkin. At last, she said, "I think you should ask Owen out."

"What? Why?" The black girl was obviously thrown by the sudden change in topic.

"Obviously Virgil isn't interested, at least not anymore." Frieda replied. "He hasn't tried to make a move since he took you to that B2K concert, and that was three years ago. Move on, girl. He already has."

"I haven't heard about him dating anyone. . . ."

"Daisy, you're not stupid. You wouldn't have been at the Vanmoor Institute if you were. He's been with Richie since the middle of sophomore year." Cyborg almost knocked over a small sign advertising a new, fancy desert that the café had just started to stock; Robin had to force his mouth closed after it had fallen open in shock. Daisy stared at her friend, eyes wide with surprise and disbelief.

"Are you sure? Has either of them said anything. . . ?"

"Nothing concrete– yet. But. . . . Swear that you won't breath a word of this anywhere near school?" Frieda looked serious now, her face hard with determination; she wouldn't say another word if her friend didn't think she could keep this secret. Daisy nodded, biting her lip anxiously. "Late in our eighth grade year I asked Richie out, because I thought he was cute in that geeky way of his. He turned me down, and– well, you know me– I had to know why. Eventually I pried it out of him: he cracked after two weeks, and told me that he was gay."

"But," Daisy argued weakly, "Virgil's only ever looked at girls. . . ."

"He hasn't been looking at anyone lately. You know as well as I do that he's the kind of person to stay faithful to whoever he's with." Daisy smiled a little, and fiddled with her coffee cup.

"You're right about that."

"The only reason I bring this up is because the other day, when I was staying after school to meet the newspaper deadline, I saw something," Frieda explained. "I was walking by the advanced science labs, the ones with the big glass windows? I don't know what they were doing there, but Richie was talking about something in that really excited way that he uses when he and Virgil are discussing the latest issues of their comics. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but Virgil was watching him with that smitten look he gets when he thinks no one is looking." Daisy sighed, slumping against the curved edge of the back of her metal chair.

"I guess that's it, then. I'd figured he'd had his eye on someone else for a while, but I never thought. . . . Well, at least they go well together." She frowned a little, straightened, and took a drink of her coffee mix. "Still, I'm going to have to give them a hard time when they finally come out and tell us." Frieda laughed, glad that her friend was on her way back to her old self.

"So will I."

On that note, Cyborg and Robin decided that they had best get back and report to the others, and they hurried away as casually as they could.

* * *

Ending Note from Kiela: And so we resume our snail's pace of once chapter roughly once a year. I feel so proud.

Ending Note from Crisis: Dude, what's with your sarcasm? It's breaking my heart, Kiela! My cold, imaginary heart!


End file.
